Predators' Andrew Brunette will miss game vs Islanders while away for family matter
Nashville Predators coach Andrew Brunette, who has been away from the team while dealing with a family matter, will miss Tuesday's game against the New York Islanders.
Assistant coach Todd Richards will continue to handle head coaching duties in Brunette's absence.
Brunette missed Saturday's practice at Centennial Sportsplex then Sunday's 2-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens. No other information on Brunette's absence was made available by the Predators, but it will continue for at least another day.
Richards, who has been with the Predators since October 2020, was head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets for five seasons (2011-2016). He then became an assistant coach with the Tampa Bay Lightning before being hired by Nashville in 2020.
Brunette, 51, was hired by the Predators in May 2023 when the team moved on from John Hynes, who became coach of the Minnesota Wild six months later. Barry Trotz made the hire as his first major move as the new general manager.
In his first season, Brunette was 47-30-5 and a finalist for the 2024 Jack Adams Award, given annually to the league's coach of the year. This year, the Predators have struggled under Brunette, going 27-41-8 with six games left in the seaosn.
Brunette scored the first goal in Predators history on Oct. 13, 1998.
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Alex Daugherty is the Predators beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Alex at jdaugherty@gannett.com. Follow Alex on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @alexdaugherty1. Also check out our Predators exclusive Instagram page @tennessean_preds.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Andrew Brunette to miss Islanders game, attending to family matter
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